Belt-punching tool.



THOMAS J. HAYES, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BELT-PUNCHING TOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 11119 26 191% Application filed October 9, 1916. Serial No. 124,465.

To all whom timely concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. HAYES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Belt Punching Tools, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to tools for cutting off the ends of round leather belting to form square ends adapted to be abutted together, for punchingthe belting near said ends to form holes for the reception of the legs of a staple-shaped wire coupling, and for clenching the legs of the coupling upon adjacent ends of the belting. A tool of this character in common use comprises a pair of body members having opposed faces between which the belting is grasped, and crossed levers fulcrumed together between the jaws, and so connected with the jaws that the faces thereof are moved toward and from each other by the levers and are maintained in parallelism with each other, one of the membersfbeing provided with a perforating punch and with a cutter projecting inwardly from the member and cooperating with a shearing edge at one end of a belt-receiving recess in'the other member in cutting off the end of a length of belting interposed between the members, the members being provided with extensions formed to cooperate in clenching the belt coupling.

My Patent 1,17 9,830, dated April 18, 1916, discloses among other things a I springpressed stripper bridging a belt-receiving recess in one of the members and adapted to bear yieldingly on a belt therein, said strip per being formed to centralize a belt in said recess.

The object of the. present invention .is to provide certain improvements in the stripper and in the means for connecting the same with one'of the body members, whereby the construction is simplified, the operation is improved and the assemblage'and separation of parts are facilitated.

The invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed todescribe and claim. 7

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification:

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a tool embodying the invention, the body members being open;

Fig. 2 represents a similar View, the members being closed;

Fig. 2% represents a section on line fl -2 of Fig; 2; s

Fig. 3 represents an end view of the tool as represented by Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 represents an enlarged section on line 4l4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4' represents a view similar to Fig. 4, showing the members closed and the punch projected into a belt;

Fig. 5 represents a section on line 55 of Fig. 8;

Figs. 5 5 5 represent fragmentary sectional views illustrating the cooperation of the stripper with belts of different sizes;

Fig. 6 represents a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a portion of one of the members;

Fig. 7 represents a section on line 7-7 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 represents a perspective view of the stripper detached;

Fig. 9. represents a perspective View of the part hereinafter called the yoke;

Fig. 10 represents a perspective view of the part hereinafter called the spring button;

Fig. 11 represents an edge view of a portion of one of the body members and the gage attached thereto.

The same reference characters indicate I the same or similar parts in all the views.

In the drawings, 12 and 13 represent the body members of a belt-cutting and punching tool, said members being termed for convenience of description the lower and the upper member respectively, although it is obvious that the tool may beused with either member uppermost. 1 1 and 15 represent crossed levers fulcrumed together at 16 between the body members, each lever having a longer and-a shorter arm. The shorter arms of the levers are connected with the members by pivot studs 17, located in sockets in the members formed to closely fit the studs. The longer arms of the levers are engaged with the members by studs 18, located in longitudinal slots 19 in the members, the arrangement being such that when the levers are moved from the position shown by Fig. 1 to that shown by Fig. 2, the members are closed and are constantly maintained parallel with each other. The members are provided with coupling-clenching extensions 12* and 13 adjacent to the punch.

The construction thus far described is well known and is not claimed by me, this embodiment of my invention relating to the punching, stripping and centralizing means hereinafter described.

The member 12 is provided with a belt-receiving recess 29, which opens at the inner side of the member, projecting lips or flanges 30 being preferably provided at opand are adapted to slide upon the sides of the member 13 and are preferably provided with curved loops 36 surrounding openings through which the belt passes.

37 represents a substantially U-shaped yoke the side arms of which overlap and are in sliding contact with the arms 33 and are provided with orifices 38 receiving'studs 39 which enter the slots 34, said studs permitting the arms 33 to slide in contact with the sides of the member 13.

40 represents a punch which extends through an orifice 41 in the member 13 and into an orifice 42 in the stripper 31.

43 represents a tubular bushing externally threaded and engaged with an internally threaded socket formed in the member 13, the punch extending through the bore of said bushing, which is hereinafter referred to as a spring abutment.

A spring 44 interposed between the abutment 43 and the stripper 31 exerts a yielding pressure on the stripper tending to force it yieldingly into the belt-receiving recess 29 when the members are closing. The abutment 43 has a reduced cylindrical end portion 45 which enters a circular orifice 46 formed in the neck portion of the yoke 37. The punch 42 projects upwardly from the abutment 43 and is externally threaded and engaged by a nut 47 which when screwed to place is seated on the neck portion of the yoke 37.

The belt 33 is inserted in the recess 29 when themembers are open, the stripper be ing then retracted so that its concave face and a portion of the wall of the recess 29 form a complete circle, as indicated by Fig. 5. As the members close the stripper is pressed yieldingly by the spring 44 against one side of the belt and securely clamps and centralizes the same just before the advancing punch enters and perforates the belt. By reference to Figs. 5 5 and 5 the action of the stripper in conforming to belts of different sizes will be readily understood.

When the members are closed and the nut 47 is removed, the yoke 37 is free to be disengaged from the abutment 43 and from the projecting inner end of the punch and displaced, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, said yoke and the stripper being then free to be entirely withdrawn from the members, after which the abutment 43 maybe withdrawn from the member 13, said abutment being provided with a slot 48 Fig. 10 adapted to engage a tool whereby the abutment may be rotated to unscrew it from its socket.

It will now be seen that provision is made for quickly and conveniently installing the punch and the stripper, and for removing the same, The outer end of the punch may be slotted as shown at 49 to permit it to be rotated by a screw-driver for the purpose of longitudinally adjusting the punch.

50 represents a gage adjustably secured to the member 12 by a clamp screw 51 passing through a slot 52 (Fig. 11) in one arm of said gage, which is substantially L-shaped.

belt together. There are usually three sizes of circular belts, so that provision is required for locating the gage in three different positions. To facilitate the adjustment of the gage, I provide its inner arm with marks53 Fig. 11), and the member 12 with a single mark 54 (see Fig. 11).

The member 13 is provided in its inner face with a recess 55 (Fig. 5) adapted to receive the stripper 31 and the ears or flanges 30 when the members are closed.

The punch 40 has a chisel cutting edge 40 on its forward-end, and its threaded rear end portion is engaged with an internal thread in the spring abutment 43. Vhen the nut 47 is loosened or removed, the punch may be rotated in the abutment 43 to longitudinally adjust its cutting edge and compensate for wear thereof.- The cutting edge 40 should extend parallel with the axis of the belt and not crosswise thereof, because 'the hole formed in the belt by the punch hasa maximum diameter equal to the length of the edge 40. No material is removed from the ing to contract and reduce the diameter of the hole in one direction. It will be seen therefore that, if the cutting edge extended crosswise of the belt, the belt would be objectionably weakened by the punched hole particularly in the smaller sizes. The screw thread engagement between thepunch and the abutment 43 enables the punch to be conveniently adjusted to locate the cutting edge parallel with the axis of the belt, and the nut 47, when turned up against the yoke 37, acts to lock the punch in its adjusted position and also acts to lock and prevent rotation of the abutment 13, the reduced portion 4L5 being narrower than the wall of the orifice 4L6, so that the nut bears only on the yoke and causes the outer end of the abutment to bind on the inner side of the yoke. Pro-vision istherefore made for accurately adjusting the punch both longitudinally and axially, and for securelyholding it at any adjustment.

To maintain the punch in exact alinement with the hole 56 formed for its reception in the member 12, I provide a guide member 24 which, as here shown, is a knife having a cutting edge 26 cooperating with a shearing edge on the member 13. The member 13 has a fiat recessed side 22 (which incidentally intersects the wall of a belt-receiving recess 21 to form a shearing edge,) and opposed parallel guiding shoulders 23 pro jecting from said recessed face. The guide member 2 1 is rigidly attached at one end to the body member 12 by screws 25, and extends from the member 12 onto the recessed face 22. The flat inner side of the guide member 24 is in sliding contact with the recessed face 22, and the parallel longitudinal edges of the guide member are in sliding contact with the shoulders 23. The flat outer side of the knife is in sliding contact with one of the shorter arms of the lever 15, as best shown by Fig. 7. The face 22 and shoulders 28 contact with three sides of the guide member 24 and the shorter arm of the lever 15 contacts with the fourth side of said member.

The sliding engagement of the guide member 2 1 with the face 22, shoulders 23 and lever 15, and the rigid attachment of the inner end portion of said guide member with the body member 12, maintains the body members in exact alinement with each other and prevents either member from being deflected laterally from its path of movement. The punch is therefore, maintained in exact alinement with the hole 56.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A tool of the character stated, comprising an upper and a lower body member, the lower member having a belt-receiving recess, a punch carried by the upper member and arranged to enter said recess and perforate a belt inserted therein, a belt centralizing stripper movable in said recess and perforated to receive the punch, connections between said stripper and the upper body member organized. to force the stripper yieldingly against the belt when the body members are closing and to positively withdraw the stripper from confining engagement. with. the belt when the body members are opening, the stripper conforming automatically to the diameter of the belt, and operating means maintaining the body members parallel. I

2. A tool of the character stated, comprising an upper and a lower body member, the lower member having a belt-receiving recess, a punch carriedby the upper member and arranged to enter said recess and perforate a belt inserted therein, a belt centralizing stripper movable in said recess and perforated to receive the punch, slotted arms on opposite ends of the stripper in sliding contact with the body members, a yoke having studs in sliding engagement with the slots of said arms, separable connections between the yoke and the upper member, a spring seated at one end on an abutment in theupper member and at the opposite end on said stripper, and normally holding the members separated and the stripper at the outer portion of said belt-receiving recess, the yoke being displaceable when disconnected from the upper member and removable with the stripper from said members, and operating means maintaining the members parallel.

3. A tool of the character stated, comprising an upper and a lower body member, the

lower member having a belt-receiving recess, punch-supporting means carried by the upper member, a chiseledged punch rotatively engaged with said means and adjustable by rotation to determine the position of its cutting edge and compensate for wear thereof, punch-confining means carried by the upper member and including a nut engaged with the punch, and operating means maintaining the members parallel.

4:. A tool of the character stated, comprising an upper and a lower body member, the lower member having a belt-receiving reccss an internally threaded bushing carried by the upper member and engaging an external thread on the punch, the punch being adjustable by rotation to determine the position of its cutting edge and compensate for wear thereof, punch-confining means carried by the upper member and including a nut engaged with the punch, and operating means maintaining the members parallel.

5. A tool of the character stated, comprising an upper and a lower body member, the lower member having a belt-receiving recess, a chisel-edged punch carried by the upper member and arranged to enter said recess and perforate a belt insertedtherein, a belt centralizing stripper movable in said recess and perforated to receive the punch, slotted arms on opposite ends of the stripper in sliding contact with the members, a yoke having studs in sliding engagement with the slots of said arms, a tubular internally screw-threaded spring abutment detachably engaged with the upper member and with said yoke, the punch being extended through said abutment and having a threaded port-ion engaging the internal thread of the abutment and projecting therefrom, a nut engaged with said threaded-portion and seated on said yoke, a spring seated at one end on said abutment and at the opposite end on said stripper, and operating means maintaining the members parallel, the punch being adjustable by rotation to determine the position of its cutting edge and compensate for wear thereof, and maintained in adjusted position by the nut.

6. A tool of the character stated, comprising an upper and a lower body member, the lower member having a belt-receiving recess, a punch carried by the upper member and arranged to enter said recess and perforate -a belt inserted therein, a belt centralizing stripper movable in said recess and perforated to receive the punch, connections of the belt, operating means maintaining the members parallel, an adjustable gage carried by the lower member and arranged tovsupport the end of a belt inserted in said 7 recess, and means for confining said gage at different distances from the path of the punch.

7 A tool of the character stated, compris ing a pair of body members one member having a belt-receiving recess, a punch carried by the other member and arranged to enter said recess, operating means maintaining the members parallel, and a guide member rigidly attached to one of the body members and in longitudinally sliding engagement with the other body member, means being provided .for confining said guide member against lateral movement, and thereby similarly confining the punch.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

THOMAS J. HAYES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

